Professionalism, Ethics, and Business Practices
Professional conduct
The instructor models and teaches professionalism: punctuality, appearance, hygiene, confidentiality, respectful communication, and scope of practice. Ethical behavior includes informed consent for services, honest recommendations, refusing unsafe services, and avoiding conflicts of interest. Know the difference between a legal requirement and an ethical obligation - ethics often exceeds law.
Client relations and records
Understand consultation (assess hair, scalp, history, expectations), managing unrealistic expectations, and documenting services and reactions. Confidentiality of client information is both ethical and often legally protected.
Business fundamentals
The exam expects basic literacy in pricing (cost of goods, labor, overhead, profit margin), retail vs. service revenue, inventory control, booking and no-show policies, and forms of business ownership (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, LLC) with their liability differences. Know the basics of recordkeeping, payroll, and insurance at a conceptual level.
Employment and law
Know concepts of at-will employment, independent contractor vs. employee (booth rental), anti-discrimination principles, and workplace safety obligations. Recognize that misclassifying employees as contractors is a common violation.
Traps
- Assuming a legal act is automatically ethical.
- Treating booth renters as employees (or vice versa) without checking control and tax factors.
- Pricing by competitor-matching alone without knowing cost per service.
Rule of thumb
When ethics and convenience conflict, the exam answer protects the client's safety, consent, and privacy - and documents it.
Worked example: A client requests a chemical service after a recent relaxer. The professional explains the risk, declines the service as unsafe, documents the refusal, and offers an alternative - protecting the client and the business.